New Proactive Apartment Inspections Program to Bring Safer Living Conditions to San Antonio Renters
On March 23, City Council approved a new proactive apartment inspections program to ensure that apartment complexes are meeting living standards for local renters. Beginning April 2, the City of San Antonio’s Development Services Department will proactively inspect apartment complexes with multiple code citations to provide safer housing conditions for local renters. The inspections will ensure the apartments are providing proper living standards.

“This program helps ensure safer living conditions for San Antonio renters. The ability to proactively inspect apartments also gives the City the tools needed to hold property owners responsible for maintenance,” said City Manager Erik Walsh. “I want to thank the Development Services Department and our community stakeholders for developing and bringing this program to fruition.”

HOW PROGRAM WILL WORK

The City of San Antonio will maintain a registry of apartment complexes that have been cited for code violations. Apartment complexes with five or more units within San Antonio city limits could be required to be listed on the registry if they:

• Receive three designated citations within a six-month period,
• Are not maintaining property to minimum code standards,
• Or have allowed property to develop health, safety, life, and welfare problems.

Properties registered will be subject to monthly inspections while in the program. Registered apartment complexes will remain on the registry for a minimum of six months.

“Apartment complexes present unique challenges, affecting many tenants and families at once. The key is to incentivize good property management, and to ensure the health, safety, and welfare of our residents” said Michael Shannon, Development Services Department Director. “Holding property owners accountable for having too many violations of basic housing safety standards will help us achieve this.”

The program includes property owner incentives to improve overall compliance. Properties may be removed from the registry if they improve and meet certain requirements. Properties must have less than three citations in a six-month period and correct all violations to be removed from the registry and will remain in probation for a period of four years. If the property falls back into the program, they will remain in the registry for a full year. The registration fee is $100 per unit, per year.

Thank you to the members of the stakeholder group for their tireless work over 12 meetings reviewing more than 100 code sections and creating a well balance ordinance. This new program will hold apartment owners more accountable and proactively verify compliance in apartment complexes needing it the most.

For more information about the program, please visit the Proactive Apartment Inspections web page. 

Legislative Process Now in Session
The deadline for state legislators to file proposed legislation was Friday, March 10. Next steps include committee assignments and review of proposed bills. The Development Services Department is currently reviewing about 100 pieces of legislation and coordinating with the City’s Government Affairs department to advocate for protecting local control over land use and development related activity. The regular session of the 88th Texas Legislative cycle formally closes on May 29, 2023.

Sign Code Community Meetings 
This past month, the last of the committee meetings was held for the proposed amendments to the current sign code. In total the committee reviewed:

• 32 submitted amendments
• 22 were recommended for approval
• 2 amendments were withdrawn by applicants
• 4 were not recommended for approval
• 4 no action taken

A total of 11 committee meetings and 8 community meetings were held.

The Building-Related and Fire Codes Appeals and Advisory Board met on March 15 and approved all recommended changes. A briefing for the Planning and Development City Council Committee was held on March 20, in which the committee approved this item to move forward to Council for consideration and approval.

The Signs and Billboard Ordinance is Ch. 28 of the municipal code and is updated every 5 years. The Sign Code is projected to be heard by City Council by May. A grace period will be granted before becoming effective.                        

DSD hosted the Spring 2023 San Antonio Building Codes Academy (SABCA) last month at the City’s Hardberger Park, Urban Ecology Center; this was the first in-person training at the park in over two years. The academy was a success with 325 attendees, both DSD staff and customers, over the 4-day training period. This was the highest number of SABCA attendees since the ordinance was adopted in 2008.

Instructor Terrell Stripling, an International Code Council (ICC) instructor, taught the 2021 International Building Code (IBC) Means of Egress on Feb. 21 and 22. He is a seasoned instructor with 25+ years of fire service experience and has also worked in the construction industry. He holds a B.S. degree from Oklahoma State University in Fire Protection and Safety Engineering Technology.

Instructor Thomas Domitroich, is an electrical engineer with Eaton Corporation’s electrical group. He taught the 2020 National Electrical Code (NEC) One- and -Two Family Dwellings Electrical Systems on Feb. 23 and 24. Mr. Domitroich is a LEED Accredited Professional, a licensed Professional Engineer, and has a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering from Gannon University.

Both instructors provided excellent training to prepare our DSD staff and customers with better knowledge of electrical systems and means of egress.

Be on the lookout for the next SABCA training – information will be shared once location and topics are confirmed.  

Contractor Connect Training
DSD is hosting several in-person training sessions. Each session runs from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. Sign up in advance during one of your visits at our counter or by calling us at 210.207.1111. For more information, visit our website 

The following Information Bulletins (IB) recently posted:
IB 151 Residential Deck Permits, posted 3/7/2023, was revised to provide information regarding online application and permitting, submittal of electronic documents, and online inspection requirements.

IB 114 Code Modification Request Procedures, posted 2/21/23, was revised for code modification request procedures. This bulletin has been updated to include Accela on-line application procedures.

QUICK LINKS:

• Forms & Applications
• Information Bulletins (IBs)**
• Rule Interpretations
• Code Interpretations
• Annual Report

**Information Bulletins located in Documents Online are numbered by section. The assigned numbers are generally categorized as outlined below:

• 100s - Plan Review
• 200s - Permits and Inspections
• 300s - BuildSA
• 500s - Land Development
• 600s - Fire
• 800s - Code Enforcement

We are hiring!
The City of San Antonio’s Development Services Department is responsible for coordinating land and building development throughout the City. In partnership with other City departments, Development Services helps homeowners, business owners, and those in the commercial industry plan and execute development projects. Projects can be as simple as a kitchen renovation in a home and as complex as constructing a new building on an untouched piece of property.

To join our DSD team, visit the City's Career web page and fill out an application today.

Performance Measures
To view the report in its entirety visit, Development Services Department Performance Measures.

Permit Activity

*This number includes the total monthly count for the year. 

In line with the city holiday schedule, DSD will be closed on April 28, 2023, in observance of San Jacinto Day.